Friday, May 6, 2016

Lau, as we call it in Bengali, in other parts of India, it is known as
Lauki or Dudhi, is very low caloric vegetable and very low in fat.
Because of its high water content, it's very cooling, calming, diuretic and easy to digest.
Therefore, it's a great summer food. It is rich in iron and also has
vitamins C and B complex. It is high in fiber, thus very effective for
light, low calorie diet, people with digestive disorders and
constipation. If you are planning to loose weight, add it to your diet daily.

Bottle gourd has many healing powers,
even though it is not so popular in Western World, but it is widely
used in India. Bottle gourd is valuable treating Urinary disorder,
balancing Liver Function, treating High blood pressure and heart
disease, treating Insomnia and other nervous disorders and many more.
Ayurveda, the traditional Indian Herbal medicinal system, suggests
bottle gourd juice once daily early in the morning helps treating
graying hair, stomach acidity, digestive disorders and ulcers. During summer, consume this Bottle Gourd Juice to cool yourself from inside.Today, I'll share a very simple lauki/lau recipe from bengali cuisine, which is called"Lau Ghonto". Another, from the same bottle gourd peel, "Lau er Khosa Charchari". One bottle gourd, two recipe. Bottle gourd's peel is equally delicious and nutritious. So to consume the nutrition form the peel, try this dish, you'll be amazed. LAU GHONTO :::

Ghonto,
is a cooking style in Bengali cuisine, where vegetables (cabbage,
gourd, radish etc.) are chopped or grated very finely and cooked with a
tempering(like, jeera/ panch phoron) and very few ground spices.
Non-vegetarian ghontos are also made, where fish or fish head are added
with vegetables. The famous Murighonto is made with fish head and cooked
rice.

Peel the whole gourd. Don't throw away the peels. In Bengali cuisine, we have many delectable dishes made from it, like crispy fries(lau-er khosa bhaja) or charchari from it.

For cutting the vegetable very fine, first cut
the gourds in round rings. Take 3 or 4 rings at a time and chop them as
finely as you can. Continue with the other rings.

Heat oil in a pan, temper with broken dry red
chilli, bay leaf and cumin seeds. When chilli turns dark and seeds crackle, throw
chopped up gourds. Stir for a while, water will come out. Wait for water
to dry up. When water evaporates, add salt, turmeric and green
chillies. Mix well, stirring for few minutes.

Add very little water and in medium flame let it
cook. Gourds cook very fast. Check the seasoning. When all the water
evaporates and gourds are quite soft and mushy, remove from heat. Throw
chopped fresh coriander leaves, mix well and serve with hot steamed rice.

Lau-er khosa Charchari :::

It's a great dish, made from peels of bottle
gourds and pumpkin. This dish, I've tried from Sharmistha's blog Cook-a-doodle-doo. I had no idea of this dish , until She shared her
mother's recipe. Instead of throwing all the highly nutritive peels of
gourd, we can dish out a great simple relish. To make any dish with
peels, do not peel but cut with little flesh on with a sharp knife. I recommend all to try this dish who loves bottle
gourd.